Sunday, October 29, 2006

A Nation of JunkiesLast time I checked, there were an alarming number of evangelical christians participating in this mockery of participatory government that we have in the US. Given that the number of eligible voters who actually vote fluctuates somewhere between 30% and 45% of the available electorate and given that, of that number, at least 25% of them are evangelicals, it seems to me that these people have an alarmingly disproportionate influence on our nation's policy, foreign and domestic.

Marx called religion the opium of the people. However, this new brand of charismatic protestantism goes so much farther than that, it is ridiculous...How about "speedball of the people?"

When you consider the wrong-minded Calvinism that passes itself off as the "born again" movement and the associated notions that wealth/prosperity = the favour of God, you have to see the associated calls for the dismantling of the social safety net for what they are: the attempt of an extremely vocal, highly politicized minority to establish a theocracy in the United States. With the billions of dollars that this administration has passed off to "faith-based" community organizations, the stage is being set for an Hamas/Hezbollah-style scenario by which religious authoritarians end up providing social services that are much better managed and dispensed by secular institutions.

Think about it: no money for welfare, but plenty of cash for churches with soup kitchens. No money for childcare, but plenty of money for churches that provide after-school programs. No money for public education, but plenty of money for vouchers for parochial schools.

The Christian right is certainly one of the most sinister political cabals in the country right now. These are people who preach peace and love but who, ultimately, pray every day for Armageddon, an apocalyptic descent into violence. Normal, thinking, people cannot understand why the US supports Israel unconditionally...this is because the support that the US gives Israel has nothing to do with rational policy and everything to do with biblical interpretation that suggests that Jesus can't come again until all of the jews have taken all of the "promised land." These are people who believe in magic (creationism) and who detest the reason and rationale of educated people

These people have declared cultural war against the enlightenment-era principles upon which this country was founded. Their goal is to make the US a "Christian state," where religious tolerance can only apply to those whose brand of religious preference marches lock-step with their own twisted agenda of hetero-sexist, anti-semitic, racist and classist hate-mongering. Even the republicans know this, though in the relentless pursuit of money and power they are more than willing to pander to simpletons so long as they get to keep their jobs.

I was listening to Air America just a little while ago and apparently, there is a teach-in being held tomorrow at St. John the Divine in New York City at Amsterdam and 110th St. The subject being the danger posed to the secular state by religious wackos. If you are in New York, check it out.